12th Day of Christmas~Tina Radcliffe

The Winner of Terri’s prize is Kirsten. Congratulations, Kirsten. Now, on to Tina’s Christmas memory.

An Italian Christmas Memory by Tina Russo Radcliffe

My favorite Christmas memories are those family times before I left home for the army. We always had a houseful of people. Christmas Eve was my father’s Neapolitan family (Uncle Tony, Uncle Ernie, Uncle Angelo, Aunt Annie) with homemade pasta, a nice antipasto, shrimp and squid for the evening meal. Dessert was always homemade cookies: fig cookies, pignoli (pine nut), sesame seed, wedding cakes, and pizzelles. Later we roasted chestnuts in the oven and ate them with eggnog.

Christmas Day was spent with my mother’s family, and they’re Sicilian. The family ate pasta along with ham, and eggplant parmagiana, and tossed salad. Then pies, and cakes and more cookies (People didn’t talk about cholesterol in those days). After dinner the family silently divided into two groups: the men watched football as the women did dishes (definitely a different world in those days!). Later we all watched The Ten Commandments. I come from a big family and I recall myself and all my cousins (at least ten of us) on the floor at my Aunt Josephine’s house watching TV. And because we hadn’t eaten enough, someone would always make popcorn.

Am I the only one who had to eat at the kid’s table? I never did graduate to the adult table. My family was too large.

Wow, I hadn’t thought about those memories in a very long time. Thanks for letting me share. No matter where you are for the holidays let your memories keep you warm.

Tina Radcliffe has been dreaming and scribbling for years. Originally from Western, N.Y., she left home for a tour of duty with the Army Security Agency stationed in Augsburg, Germany and ended up in Tulsa Oklahoma. While living in Tulsa she spent ten years as a Certified Oncology R.N. A two-time RWA Golden Heart finalist and an ACFW Carol Award finalist, Tina has won first place in over twenty RWA affiliated chapter contests. Tina currently resides in Arizona where she writes heartwarming romance.

Tina is giving away a Tina Radcliffe ebook of choice to one winner U.S. or international. Or if you’ve read all my books, pick a Tina Russo ebook of choice. www.tinaradcliffe.com or www.tinarusso.com

Rivals of the Heart

A new job in Paradise, Colorado, seems like the perfect fresh start for Dr. Ben Rogers. Only problem is, Dr. Sara Elliott has been counting on getting the same job. Once they negotiate a shared trial run, Ben expects working with Sara to be less than pleasant. Instead, he finds himself drawn to her. She’s dedicated and compassionate, exactly the type of woman he used to want—when family was an option. Yet Ben is surprised to learn that Sara’s life is just as emotionally complicated as his own. And if there isn’t room for both of them at work, how can they make room for each other in their hearts?

*To be eligible for Tina’s ebook, you must leave a comment. Winner will be selected using Random.org. The winner will be notified Dec 13 and posted on the sidebar as well.

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19 thoughts on “12th Day of Christmas~Tina Radcliffe”

Wow, reading about all that food is making me hungry lol. When I was younger our family gatherings were bigger & I used to sit with my sisters & cousins to watch a movie afterwards too. Now alot of my family are off in different states so it’s hard for us to get all together now. =(

I love your holiday memories, Tina. Personally, there were a few times I had to sit the kiddie table as an adult…and I loved it. Wishing you a blessed holiday season. *Please don’t enter me in the giveaway so someone else can be blessed by it.

Tina, fun to read your yummy Christmas food memories. You reminded me of the Christmas Eve dinners at my grandparents’ tiny two-bedroom home in Kansas…with 35 relatives in attendance. Since I was one of the older cousins, I got to sit at the grown-up table…and felt very special. 🙂 I still make Grandma’s very rich date pudding every year. After reading…and loving…The Rosetti Curse, I’m hungry for biscotti and all the bakery treats!
Christina, I’m enjoying your “24 days of Christmas” posts…..and looking forward to your debut book! How do you get those snowflakes to fall on the page? Festive!
Merry Christmas, Tina and Christina!

Sherida, I’m glad you’re enjoying the posts. I am too! I love all these memories, many of which brought back memories of my own childhood.
As for the snow, lol, I was looking for possible hidden comments and saw this little box with the words next to ‘let it snow’, so I check marked it. 😉 And it worked. Yes, I was surprise.

Tina, I hated the kids table. I was the oldest on my mom’s side and I always got stuck at the kids table, which happened to be a mini trampoline. What drove me crazy is that my cousin, two years younger, was always allowed at the adult table. 😉 I’ll admit I was jealous. I didn’t want to sit with all the ‘little kids’, especially since most of them were 8-10 years younger than I was. Now, I don’t mind sitting with the kids. 😉